Historic England research records

Historic England Research Records

Monument Number 209750
Hob Uid: 209750
Location : Wiltshire Berwick St. John
Grid Ref : ST9530017390
Summary : A pit discovered circa 131 feet west of the Middle Bronze Age enclosure at South Lodge (ST 91 NE 9) and excavated by Pitt Rivers in 1893. Prior to excavation it was visible as a surface depression 2.5 feet deep. Excavation revealed a slightly irregular pit measuring a maximum of 23 feet in diameter and 7.4 feet deep. It contained the pelvis and other bones of a female skeleton and a flint axe. Higher up in the fill were some Bronze Age and Romano-British potsherds. H Toms subsequently noted that the pit appeared to have been cut through one of the lynchets associated with the field system around South Lodge, although Pitt Rivers appears not to have recorded any details of the pit's relationship to the lynchet. Barrett et al noted two possibilities - that the lynchet ran, unnoticed, into the weathered top of the pit (the pit still being visible as a surface feature in 1893), or that the pit was a later feature dug through the lynchet. It's date could therefore lie anywhere in the Neolithic or Bronze Age. Kinnes (1979) listed it as Neolithic "flat grave".
More information : (ST 95301739) Pit (NR) (Skeleton found AD 1893) (NAT) (Not published on OS 6", 1963, but shown by hachures) (1) A surface-depression, 131 feet west of South Lodge Camp, shown and described by Toms as dug through a lynchet(3) was excavated by Pitt-Rivers in 1893. He found a pit, 23 feet in diameter and about 7 1/2 feet deep (described by Rivers as a pit-dwelling but more probably a refuse/storage pit). Fragments of a human skeleton and a well-formed chipped flint axe, considered to be Bronze Age by Pitt-Rivers, and Romano British sherds were found. There were many similar depressions in the neighbourhood. (2-4) The pit is 10m in diameter and 2.5m deep; it is used as a rubbish-dump. (5)

Sources :

Source Number : 1
Source :
Source details : OS 6" 1927
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Source Number : 2
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Page(s) : 42-4
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Plates : 243
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Source Number : 3
Source :
Source details : (H S Toms)
Page(s) : 95-6
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Vol(s) : 46, 1925

Source Number : 4
Source :
Source details : ONB 1900-24 11
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Source Number : 4a
Source :
Source details : H S Toms plan
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Source Number : 5
Source :
Source details : F1 NVQ 23-APR-54
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Source Number : 6
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Source details :
Page(s) : 151
Figs. : 5.3
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Monument Types:

Monument Period Name : Neolithic
Display Date : Neolithic
Monument End Date : -2200
Monument Start Date : -4000
Monument Type : Pit
Evidence : Sub Surface Deposit

Monument Period Name : Bronze Age
Display Date : Bronze Age
Monument End Date : -700
Monument Start Date : -2600
Monument Type : Pit
Evidence : Sub Surface Deposit

Monument Period Name : Roman
Display Date : Roman
Monument End Date : 410
Monument Start Date : 43
Monument Type : Findspot
Evidence : Find

Components and Objects:

Period : Neolithic
Component Monument Type : Pit
Object Type : AXEHEAD, HUMAN REMAINS
Object Material : Flint

Period : Bronze Age
Component Monument Type : Pit
Object Type : HUMAN REMAINS, VESSEL
Object Material : Pottery

Period : Roman
Component Monument Type : Findspot
Object Type : VESSEL
Object Material : Pottery

Related Records from other datasets:

External Cross Reference Source : SMR Number (Wiltshire)
External Cross Reference Number : 101/304
External Cross Reference Notes :

External Cross Reference Source : National Monuments Record Number
External Cross Reference Number : ST 91 NE 11
External Cross Reference Notes :

Related Warden Records :

Associated Monuments :
Relationship type : General association

Related Activities :

Associated Activities :
Activity type : EXCAVATION
Start Date : 1893-01-01
End Date : 1893-12-31

Associated Activities :
Activity type : FIELD OBSERVATION (VISUAL ASSESSMENT)
Start Date : 1954-04-23
End Date : 1954-04-23

Historic England Research Records

Monument Number 209750